HOUSTON, April 4 – Houston Rockets Owner Leslie Alexander announced today that the team has named Daryl Morey as the team’s Assistant General Manager. Morey will serve in this capacity under current General Manager Carroll Dawson through the 2006-07 season before assuming the role of General Manager. Dawson will remain with the organization after next season as a Senior Consultant.

“Daryl will be a great addition to our organization,” said Alexander. “With the high level of competition in this league, you can never have too much information. If we combine the best information with our basketball people we should be able to make the most informed and best decisions in the NBA. Daryl will be an important part of that process. Carroll Dawson has served this organization very well over the past 26 years, and he will continue to be a very useful resource for many years to come.”

Morey comes to the Rockets after serving three years as SVP of Operations and Information for the Boston Celtics. While with the Celtics, basketball operations was a key part of his responsibilities, including the development of analytical methods and technology to enhance basketball decisions, such as the draft, trades, free agency and statistical advance scouting for the coaching staff.

“Houston is one of the top organizations in the NBA, with a passionate fan base and a legacy of success,” said Morey. “I am very excited to be joining Carroll Dawson and the first class basketball organization at the Rockets. My base of experience provides another perspective toward the common goal of everyone who works for Carroll, winning a championship for the fans of Houston.”

Prior to his time with the Celtics, Morey worked as a Principal consultant with an emphasis on sports at The Parthenon Group, a leading strategy consulting firm. While at Parthenon, he led the Joe O’Donnell/Steve Karp Boston Red Sox acquisition team and the current Celtics ownership group acquisition team. In addition to Parthenon, Morey has been a technology lead at MITRE Corporation, which is a top defense industry advisory firm that develops systems to aid national security decision making across the intelligence community. Morey was also a statistical consultant with STATS, Inc., the industry pioneer in the use of sports statistics highlighted in the Michael Lewis book Moneyball.

Morey holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science with an emphasis on statistics from Northwestern University, as well as an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management. He has published over 10 technology strategy articles in CIO and other publications. Morey also serves as the professor for the MIT Sloan class, “Analytical Sports Management,“ with class contributors such as Bill James, Danny Ainge and sports agent, Arn Tellem.

Morey grew up in a small town near Medina, Ohio. Married for 10 years, he and his wife have two children ages 6 and 4 years old.